03.31.07

More Deaths in the Massachusetts Prison System

Posted in prisons, suicide, mental illness at 7:32 pm by misstyrios

This week, there have been two inmate deaths at two different correctional facilities in Massachusetts - one was the third suicide of the year, as compared to four in all of 2005 and one in 2004. There were seven in 2006. The suicide occurred at Bridgewater State Hospital, the facility that specifically houses those inmates with severe mental health issues (though it’s very clear in my experience that a hell of a lot more inmates have mental health issues than end up at Bridgewater AND that Bridgewater is such a miserable place to be that many resist going there at all costs).

Last month, the Disability Law Center sued the Massachusetts Department of Correction in federal court, alleging that inmates with severe mental health issues were being treated inhumanely (including being on lock-down 23 hours per day) and asking that the remedy be more specialized housing and treatment for them.

Putting such prisoners in segregation units, the advocates say, violates the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and should be banned. The Disability Law Center also said the segregation of mentally ill inmates violates federal statutes, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Department of Correction said in a statement that it does not comment on pending litigation. However, the department said it was “well aware of the national trend of the increasing number of prisoners with mental illness” and that it had begun taking steps to reduce the risk of suicide for the state’s nearly 11,000 inmates.

In February, the Department of Correction issued its own independent report on inmate suicides, recognizing that facility procedures and policies were contributing to a suicide rate that was almost double the national average (27 per 100,000 v. 14 per 100,000):

Guards and other staff members do not have enough training in suicide prevention.

Guards fail to check frequently enough on some inmates at risk of suicide.

Some cells used to house suicidal inmates have not been stripped of features they could use to harm themselves.

Inmates under suicide watch become even more isolated because they are denied visits, showers, phone calls, and time outside their cells.

[…]

The report also includes unsettling details about recent suicides, the vast majority from inmates hanging themselves. In two recent cases, inmates were hanging for more than 30 minutes before they were discovered, though prisoners on suicide watch are supposed to be checked at least every 30 minutes. In the report, [author Lindsay Hayes of the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives] urges the department to do away with 30-minute checks for suicidal patients, which he concludes are too infrequent, and instead check at least every 15 minutes and have constant observation for the most troubled inmates.

It’s frustrating to be on the cusp of seeing this first hand - I hear complaints from my clients held in custody all the time, and it is not just those who are classified as having mental health issues. The local county facility that I spend the most time in regularly keeps inmates locked down for 23 hours and I hear stories all the time about social workers who deride inmates, correctional officers who spit on them, and nurses who treat every ailment with an ibuprofen. I hear about cells designed for two people housing four or five and makeshift beds shoved into the cafeteria. But these things all happen literally locked away from the public eye. And it’s not like the general public has much sympathy for those people locked away for criminal activity, nor do they place much stock in their credibility. It’s tragic that suicides have to be the catalyst for any sort of scrutiny, but I hope that, with the help of organizations like the Disability Law Center and Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, something may be done soon.

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